Jacks look to bounce Belmont at Frost Arena

South Dakota State returns home after a short one game road trip for the first of two straight games at home on Saturday, when the Jackrabbits host the Belmont Bruins at Frost Arena at 4 p.m.

The Jacks return home after a tough 75-59 loss at Minnesota on Tuesday night in Minneapolis. SDSU battled hard and stayed with Minnesota for the first 18 minutes of the game, but the Golden Gophers used a late first half spurt and an early second half run to secure the win at Williams Arena.

After trailing by nine early, the Jacks battled back to tie the game at 21-all on a Brayden Carlson 3-pointer with 7:36 left in the first half, and then again a few minutes later at 23-all, but the Gophers outscored the Jacks 13-5 through the rest of the half to take a 36-28 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Gophers got hot early in the second half, scoring points on six of their first seven trips down the floor to open up a 16 point lead at 59-33 with 16:30 left to play in the game, and the Jacks wouldn’t get any closer than 12 points for the rest of the game.

Jordan Dykstra led the Jackrabbits with 16 points, adding 12 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. Chad White finished with 15 points, while Carlson finished with eight points in the loss.

TRACKING THE JACKRABBITS

RABBITS ON THE RADIO – Originated from the AM 570 WNAX studios in Yankton, S.D., every SDSU men’s basketball games can be heard live on a total of nine stations on the Jackrabbit Sports Network.

Pierre, S.D., native, and 2012 South Dakota Sportscaster of the Year, Tyler Merriam returns for his third season as the voice of Jackrabbit men’s basketball. He also serves as the voice of Jackrabbit football and baseball.

THE JACKRABBIT INSIDER ON KELOLAND-TV – Fans of South Dakota State Athletics can get a weekly behind-the-scenes look at all 21 Jackrabbit varsity sports teams by tuning into “The Jackrabbit Insider.”

Hosted by Tyler Merriam, the show airs on Sundays on MyUTV at 10:30 p.m., followed by a broadcast on Sunday at 11 p.m. on KELOLAND-TV.

DYKSTRA EARNS SUMMIT LEAGUE HONORS – Jordan Dykstra received his first career Player of the Week accolade on Monday, Dec. 2 after earning MVP honors at the Progressive Legends Classic, Brookings Subregional. In victories against Howard and Lehigh, Dykstra posted double-doubles including a career-high 32 points and season-high 13 rebounds against Lehigh.

JACKS DOUBLE UP – After posting a single double-double in each of his first two seasons, Jordan Dykstra posted double-doubles in a team-high nine games as a junior in 2012-13. He posted five double-doubles in 11 games this season pushing his all-time total to 16. Cody Larson posted his first career double-double vs. Southwest Minnesota State on Nov. 18, added a second vs. Howard on Nov. 25 and a third on Dec. 4 vs. Dakota State.

FIVE IN DOUBLE FIGURES – Five Jackrabbits scored at least 10 points in the Jacks win over Southwest Minnesota State on Monday, marking the first time that’s happened since Feb. 2, 2013, when five did so at Kansas City.

ON THE RECORD

DYKSTRA CLIMBING ALL-TIME SCORING LIST – Senior Jordan Dykstra became the 43rd member of the SDSU 1,000-Point Club in the Jacks win over South Dakota on Jan. 31, and immediately started to climb the scoring charts. He entered the 2013-14 season ranked 23rd all-time at SDSU with 1,149 points, but already moved up to 15th all-time with 1,337 points in his career.

DYKSTRA CRACKS TOP-10 IN CAREER 3-POINTERS – Dykstra opened the season with 142 career 3-pointers, five shy of cracking the all-time top-10 at SDSU, which he did at Texas Tech on Nov. 21. He enters Wednesday’s game with 157, good for eighth all-time at SDSU, and three shy of moving into sole possession of seventh all-time.

WHITE HITS 1,000-POINT MILESTONE – Senior Chad White came up 53 points shy of becoming the 44th member of the SDSU 1,000-Point Club last year, but hit the mark at Texas Tech on Nov. 21. He continues his climb up the list, and enters today’s game ranked 35th all-time with 1,063 point, but needs just 11 points to climb two spots on the all-time charts.

WHITE CLIMBS CAREER 3-POINT FG CHARTS – Chad White entered the 2013-14 season with 169 career 3-point field goals, good for fifth all-time at SDSU. He needs 13 more triples to move into fourth place all-time.

CARLSON EYES 1,000-POINT CLUB – Senior Brayden Carlson scored just 85 points as a freshman, but scored 254 as a sophomore and 317 as a junior, giving him 656 entering his senior season, he now needs 213 points to reach the 1,000 point milestone.

GOOD FOR THREE! – Three of the top-10 three-point shooters in SDSU history, based on 3-point field goal percentage, currently play for the Jackrabbits. Jordan Dykstra leads the way with .456 percent, Chad White ranks fifth with a .415 mark from deep, while Brayden Carlson enters the game ranked ninth with a .396 career mark from long range.

TONIGHT’S OPPONENT

BELMONT BRUINS (8-2, 3-1 AWAY) – Ranked No. 4 in the latest collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 poll, the Bruins knocked off No. 12/11 Ranked, and perennial power North Carolina on Nov. 17 in Chapel Hill, N.C., and come to Brookings well rested after weather forced the Bruins to postpone their Dec. 11 game against Fairfield.

Belmont last played on Dec. 3, when they downed Middle Tennessee State 70-58 in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

THE SERIES vs. BELMONT – The Bruins won the first and only meeting in the series, a 76-49 win on Dec. 19, 2012 in Nashville, Tenn.

NEXT UP FOR THE JACKRABBITS – SDSU closes the two game home stand on Wednesday against the Wayne State Wildcats at Frost Arena at 7 p.m. The Jacks then embark on a five game road trip, starting with a game at North Dakota on Dec. 21 at 4 p.m. in Grand Forks.